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Thursday, 15 March 2012

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Let me start by stating that I'm not against more commercial games either, some of them are quite good. I'm more against the fact, that commercially dumped down games are almost everything that's coming out today. Please, give us something different, something more challenging also once in a while! Anyhow..

Great news for Wasteland and Fallout game fans! Today Wasteland 2 (Read Introduction article here) Kickstarter Funding has reached it's goal. The game that is funded totally by the eager gaming fans wishing game to be made. InXile Entertainment the developer of the game gave 36 days time for Wasteland 2 to get donations at minimum worth of $900 000, and promised that the game would be made in case this minimum limit was reached.

Only 42 hours and 30 minutes later they broke that $900 000 barrier and are still 33 days to go for even bigger budget, with over 16 000 people donating already backing the project. While these numbers might be far from the those with most commercial games crank up with biggest gaming companies, it is quite groundbreaking in comparison, since we're comparing game projects funded by big Publishers with a game that's running on donations only.

Wasteland 2 now bound to be made on donation money may not be victory only for those who have been waiting a sequel for several decades, or for those wishing InXile team to give a finger for big companies publishing only commercial RPGs, but it may be victory for small to medium game developer's freedom of making less commercial games in future - with an alternative way of funding. No big Publisher pushing your direction of the game development around and telling you what to do.

As for one thing Crowdfunding a game totally by donations is probably not a piece of cake. You need huge amount of respect from the fans of the upcoming game, meaning either you have to have brilliant idea which you can present to gaming community, but it sure doesn't hurt to have some big names in your development team either who have perhaps previously been heavily involved in creation of authentic games, that gamers remember from the past. Just look at the Wasteland 2 team lineup with names like Brian Fargo and Michael A. Stackpole, Interplay veterans, or composer Mark Morgan known from Fallout 2 soundtrack.

Hardcore gamers bored for nowadays commercial releases coming out like ton of bricks are surely enthusiastic to spread the word, if the idea looks great on the paper and developer has some known names in the team. Crowdfunding also has it's risks for developers reputation, since gamers are basically committing money to the game, of which they haven't even seen gameplay material. Developer doesn't only need to know how to present fabulous idea, but they better also make good game. Many hardcore fans are willing to put more money into donation, that what regular new game costs and wait for long time before the game is actually out, so they will remember if the game was a total flop after the time of waiting.

For one thing successful Crowdfunding of Wasteland 2 is like scream for revolution against big publishers giving funding only for dumped down, overly accessible commercial games these days.